An excerpt from Rick Joyner's word of the
week
Week
3, 2010
Think
about this: Could I describe a voice to you and you recognize
it with much confidence? I would have a hard time putting
into words what my wife’s voice sounds like, except
using some generalizations. I doubt anyone who has never
heard her voice could recognize it this way. However, if
she were in a large crowd of people who were all talking,
I would know immediately which voice was hers. How? Because
I have been with her for so long. Likewise, I think the
only way we can really know the voice of the Lord is to
have been with Him.
There are really only two ways by which we recognize others—by
their face or by voice. How many people could you recognize
by their hands or feet, unless there was some outstanding
feature? Again, we recognize others by their face or voice.
The Word of God compels us to seek the Lord’s face
and to know His voice.
I have read the Bible many times and have studied in depth
how the Lord has spoken to people. However, that is not
how I know the voice of the Lord. I do not know it because
of an audible tone like I do my wife’s, but I know
it by a spiritual tone, which is likewise unique in the
universe. However, as the Scriptures teach, there are many
different voices in the universe, which are all unique.
So how do we distinguish His? Again, we must know Him.
The Lord could obviously make His voice so outstanding that
there is no way others could come close to duplicating it.
Therefore, we would always be able to distinguish His voice
from others, but He has not done this for our sakes. To
know the spiritual tone of the Lord’s voice, we must
know His heart and His mind—we must know Him. This
is something we grow up into as we grow up into Him. Those
who are not true disciples, who are not true seekers, will
not be able to distinguish His voice.
This is also why the Lord did not say that the lambs knew
His voice, but that His sheep did. The lambs, the younger
ones, need to follow the more mature ones until they too
know His voice so well that they can distinguish it from
all others.
I once read an account by a man who was sitting on a hill
in the Middle East. He saw three shepherds coming from different
directions, bringing their flocks to a watering hole all
at the same time. The man thought he was about to see such
a mingling of these three flocks that the shepherds would
never be able to get them all sorted out. Sure enough, when
they arrived at the water all of the flocks intermingled
so that no flock could then be distinguished. However, the
shepherds did not seem concerned but just stood talking
to each other. After the sheep had all been watered, each
shepherd took a different path and started singing as he
walked. There was a great convulsion within the large massed
flock, but then little streams started out after each shepherd
until all of the flocks were separated again. Every sheep
knew its shepherd’s voice and could distinguish it
from all of the others. Why? Because they had been with
him for so long, hearing him sing in the pastures. That
is how we must know the voice of the Lord and be able to
distinguish it from all of the other voices in the world.
There is no substitute for just being with Him.
Our devotion this year will be to sink our roots deeper
into the Scriptures, loving His truth enough to seek it.
We will also seek to know His voice better by getting closer
to Him. If we stay focused on this pursuit, this will be
one of the best and most important years of our lives. In
the times to come, our lives will likely depend on how well
we have pursued these basic disciplines as true disciples.
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